If you’re wondering how long the iPhone 4S battery lasts; the answer is: not very long. In fact, iPhone 4S battery life issues have customers complaining…a lot.

We all know that any Apple release; the whole drama, from inception through production and delivery is, well pretty dramatic. No Apple product would get its proper welcome into the world without at least one issue people love to gripe about:

Personally, I’ve buckled down and am still waiting for the iPhone 5. Although I don’t own an iPhone 4S myself, my roommate upgraded from his old BlackBerry to the 4S, after he finally had enough of his cracked screen, (which was definitely my fault; a story for another time ). Because of this, I got some hands on time with his iPhone 4S and although I do have a lot of respect for the sturdy OtterBox case he got for it, I’m being careful this time around.

That being said, I became aware of the 4S’ battery life (or lack thereof), a couple of days ago and when I saw the NY Times post on the same issue, I decided to weigh in on the topic here on SheBytes.

Sure, if we look at the facts, Apple promised a battery life which would support:

Standby time: Up to 200 hours, (unlikely…)

Internet use: Up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi, (a reach but not impossible)

Audio playback: Up to 40 hours, (that’s awesome!)

But I think that the most likely cause of the recent consumer battery complaints is simple; like with anything new there’s a learning curve.

Allow me to explain.

When prospective iPhone clientele saw the device’s commercials, anticipation built up…for months. They got extremely high expectations of what the device would be capable of once they got their hands on one. Once they actually got the device in hand, things weren’t as magical as they imagined.

As people play with their 4S, they’ll further adjust and customize the settings so that they suit their individual needs and boost battery life as much as possible. So while I’m not claiming that the iPhone 4S battery is flawless, it’s pretty unsurprising that a device with so much functionality can drain a battery so quickly.

Apple announced and acknowledged the issues with the iPhone 4S battery life, as reported here on CNN. Plans are underway for a software update that should help resolve this issue with a timetable of “a few weeks”.

We have five tips and tricks for the new Apple iOS 5 operating system, released earlier in the week. We have been playing around with it a few days and couldn’t be more excited about the new features!

1. Notification Centre

Possibly the most awaited feature, a nicely organized notifications centre, can be accessed by swiping down with your fingers from the top of the screen. It slides down by letting you view your widgets (weather and stocks) and any new messages and updates. If you go to Settings > Notifications, you can select apps to appear in the Notification Centre according to your personal preferences.

2. Easier Camera Access

A great feature if you want to make a quick snapshot without unlocking your phone! You can double tap the home button while your phone is locked, and a camera icon will appear.

3. Auto Focus Lock

Another camera feature, lets you use AE/AF lock , to lock your target and exposure. To access this feature, tap and hold on the point of focus on screen. When you see a message appear at the bottom of your screen “AE/AF lock” , select it; it will greatly increase the quality of shots, even if you have not yet upgraded to the iPhone 4s.

4. Quick Message Reply

Graphically, a very nicely designed feature, with quick message reply you can set up for your messages to pop up in an Alert, with the Badge App Icon. To set it up, go to Settings > Notification > Messages. Now when you receive a message you can tap on the icon and drag to reply instantly.

5. SIRI (iPhone 4S models only)

To access the most exciting new iPhone 4S update, a voice controlled assistant, press and hold the home button until you see a mic icon appear.

The iPhone 4S is here; we have an official SheBytes reveiw and pictures of the new iPhone! The release was today; our unboxing and your first look!

The wait is officially over and we have a first look at the iPhone 4S! For those of you who tried avoiding queues that started forming as early as 6am this morning (the more active fans were already there from night before) we bring you images in our “Unboxing of iPhone 4s” which was purchased just couple hours ago at Apple’s Upper West side store.

To our surprise all models were available today including fresh 64GB addition, which we have the pleasure to showcase.

Siri: The most surprising and exiting feature is Siri, a personal assistant, all you need is hold the home button for a mic icon to appear, and you can ask any question you wish…

We asked Siri

“What is the population of New York?”

Siri replies:

“This might answer your question”

We said ”Thank you” as a joke without hoping for a response, and thats when we were sold on the Iphone 4s upgrade, Siri replied ” Your wish is my command”

We decided to test it again asking ”what is the weather like today” , SIRI replies “It doesn’t look so nice today”

Siri’s witty sense of humor is incredible….

Camera: For your personal comparison, we took an image of the same cup with iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s

iPhone 4 – Original Camera

iPhone 4S – New Camera

THE VERDICT: This is the best model yet for those of you who decide to switch from RIM, or Android, you are doing it at the right time, as a combination of a faster processor, SLR type camera, freshly updated iOS 5 and last and not least Siri update makes this to our opinion one of the leading smartphones available on the market today and newly integrated iCloud support is just an icing .. same goes for those of you who are thinking of upgrading from a 3G or any previous models. However if you have an iPhone 4 which you just installed iOS 5 on, you could hold on until the next model, but Siri and 8-Megapixel making it a very difficult temptation to resist.